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Test scope & comparison notes
These are recorded facts, not a unified ranking. Tested tiers and scope are not consistently recorded. Read pricing with its date and timing with its conditions. Privacy observations reflect visible flows and statements, not a security audit.
Cross-task capability coverage across selected products
Each product is scored independently per task edge; switch tasks below while keeping shared products selected| Task edge | PDFtoWord.com | PDFgear | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF to Word | 91/100 DOCX · Output attached | 82/100 DOCX · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF compression | Not tested in topic | 99/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF merge & split | Not tested in topic | 99/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | Nitro PDF to Word (PDFtoWord.com) PDF to Word 91/100 Seven-aspect task score Nitro’s service retains text and tables without login or email; free files are limited to 25MB, with suite promotions and an assistant widget. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 | PDFgear PDF to Word 82/100 Seven-aspect task score Free login-free access includes deletion, but a skippable sharing prompt interrupts conversion and tables retain only visual borders, hindering edits. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 |
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| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | pdftoword.com now redirects to Nitro: free browser converter and related Nitro PDF licences · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free web converter2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free Free browser tool without registration or email; limited use with no numeric count stated. Nitro PDF Standard2026-10-20 ↗ — USD 180/year Annual USD 180 per user/year; conversion, editing and related subscription features. Nitro PDF Plus2026-10-20 ↗ Contact sales Quoted Quoted Enterprise teams quoted; advanced security and administration. Nitro PDF Classic · 3 years2026-10-20 ↗ USD 270 · one-time payment Usage / one-time Usage / one-time Windows desktop licence, one payment for 3 years; not unlimited web entitlement. Valid for 3 years, not perpetual Nitro 14-day trial2026-10-20 ↗ Free trial Trial Trial 14-day full-feature trial; no credit card required. 5 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Standard explicitly bills USD 180 annually; the USD 15 monthly equivalent is not presented as a flexible monthly plan. Classic costs USD 270 once for 3 years, not a lifetime licence. Some template copy says download PDF despite the PDF-to-Word title; no new conversion result is inferred. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ | PDFgear web PDF-to-Word; free desktop alternative noted separately · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Web free2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free One PDF at a time, up to 100 MB; OCR is claimed by the vendor. Batch processing and no file-size limit are desktop features. 1 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. The official web limit is 100 MB per file. Its OCR claim is not a RealTest scanned-document test. Desktop batch and offline processing are not web capabilities. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Free online conversion and direct download for PDFs up to 25 MB (with a 'Restart' button to convert additional files) | Both the web tool (including Advanced OCR) and cross-platform desktop/mobile apps are currently 100% free |
| Cancellation & refunds | Cancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. | Cancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | Discloses 'Maximum size allowed is 25MB' directly below the upload button before file selection | Completely free throughout; only requires clicking 'skip' on the social share modal |
| Task quality | ||
| Measured fixture results | Text retained: 100% · Editable table cells: 16 · Page 2 preserved: Yes | Text retained: 100% · Editable table cells: 0 · Page 2 preserved: Yes |
| Fixture findings | Downloaded without an email address with tables retained; the historical entry limited files to 25MB. | Text was retained but tables were not editable grids; a sharing prompt appeared during conversion. |
| Original historical observation | Once notorious years ago for requiring an email address to receive converted files, `pdftoword.com` (now integrated into `gonitro.com/pdf-to-word`) has completely dropped the email gate: it discloses a clear 25 MB limit upfront and exports a 10.0 KB 16-cell native-table .docx in 4.8s via a direct Download button (03_download.png). | PDFgear stays true to its 100% free philosophy—offering both Standard and Advanced OCR modes without login (02_workspace.png) and exporting a 16.0 KB .docx with 100% text retention and instant deletion (03_download.png); its only drawbacks are a 'Share to Continue' prompt with a faint gray 'skip' button (03_share_modal.png) and paragraph-based rather than native <w:tbl> table reconstruction. |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Business users who trust an enterprise PDF vendor (Nitro Software) and want to convert contracts or reports under 25 MB into native editable Word (.docx) without logging in or giving an email address | Users who detest paywalls and third-party ads or need free OCR text recognition on scanned PDFs |
| Result & output evidence | ||
| Scans / OCR | The fixture is a text PDF; scans and OCR were not tested | The fixture is a text PDF; scans and OCR were not tested |
| Delivery capabilities | ||
| Recorded export specifications | DOCX · Output attached · No watermark in test | DOCX · Output attached · No watermark in test |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | Full 2-page native .docx (44 paragraphs + 16-cell native table, watermark-free, up to 25 MB per file) | Full 2-page unwatermarked .docx (16.0 KB, 39 paragraphs, free OCR mode supported) |
| Watermark observation | Watermark-free | No watermark |
| Batch & API | Web tool supports sequential single-file conversions ('Restart'); batch and OCR are handled by Nitro PDF Pro desktop | Single-file conversion on web; unlimited local batch conversion via free Windows/macOS desktop app |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Published allowances & file limits · not tested | Free web converter: Free browser tool without registration or email; limited use with no numeric count stated. / Nitro 14-day trial: 14-day full-feature trial; no credit card required. | Web free: One PDF at a time, up to 100 MB; OCR is claimed by the vendor. Batch processing and no file-size limit are desktop features. |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 4.8s · End-to-end reference: 5.6s | Network-observed server wait: 10.8s · End-to-end reference: 12.3s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-10-18 · anchor_pdf2word_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) | 2026-10-18 · anchor_pdf2word_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) |
| Repeated tests & reliability | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. |
| Interaction experience | ||
| Account requirements | No login in this test | No login in this test |
| Sign-in methods | No login or email required; optional Nitro account sign-in | No login or registration required |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | Zero registration modals or third-party ad banners; displays a side-by-side Nitro PDF desktop promo card and a dismissible 'Nina from Nitro' AI sales assistant widget in the bottom-right corner (02_workspace.png). | Zero third-party banner ads, though clicking 'Convert' pops up a 'Share to Continue — Share this tool on social media to unlock access and continue converting your files' prompt with a faint gray 'skip' link at the bottom (03_share_modal.png). |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | Nitro Software, Inc. | PDFgear Tech Pte. Ltd. (pdfgear.com) |
| Recorded origin | Founded in Melbourne, Australia / HQ in San Francisco, USA | Singapore |
| Domain history record | 2005–Present (21-year enterprise PDF software leader) | 2022–Present (fast-growing free cross-platform PDF suite) |
| Background & reputation assessment | Officially operated by Nitro Software, Inc. (founded in Melbourne in 2005, headquartered in San Francisco), owner of the category-defining `pdftoword.com` domain. | Operated by Singapore-based PDFgear Tech Pte. Ltd., widely praised across tech communities for its 100% free Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android apps. |
| External reputation record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Processing location | Uploaded for cloud processing | Uploaded for cloud processing |
| Third-party tracking record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy assessment | Processed on Nitro's enterprise-compliant cloud infrastructure without requiring personal email submission or account creation to retrieve the converted file. | Provides an instant trash-can delete icon right beside 'Download File' and explicitly states 'Your files remain private and will be deleted after leaving our site' (03_download.png). |
| Retention statement | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 31.5 / 35 Clearly states 'Maximum size allowed is 25MB. Supported formats: pdf' on the upload card (01_landing.png); uploading our 2-page anchor PDF immediately displays 'Your document is ready!' and a direct black Download button (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png), completely retiring its legacy email-gate requirement. | 33 / 35 Genuinely free with no subscription paywall, no registration requirement, no watermark, and even makes its 'Advanced (Enable OCR to recognize text from scans)' mode completely free for guests (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). |
| Interaction restraint | 25.5 / 30 Zero registration modals or third-party ad banners; displays a side-by-side Nitro PDF desktop promo card and a dismissible 'Nina from Nitro' AI sales assistant widget in the bottom-right corner (02_workspace.png). | 19 / 30 Zero third-party banner ads, though clicking 'Convert' pops up a 'Share to Continue — Share this tool on social media to unlock access and continue converting your files' prompt with a faint gray 'skip' link at the bottom (03_share_modal.png). |
| Background & reputation | 19.5 / 20 Officially operated by Nitro Software, Inc. (founded in Melbourne in 2005, headquartered in San Francisco), owner of the category-defining `pdftoword.com` domain. | 18 / 20 Operated by Singapore-based PDFgear Tech Pte. Ltd., widely praised across tech communities for its 100% free Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android apps. |
| Engineering & privacy | 13.5 / 15 Processed on Nitro's enterprise-compliant cloud infrastructure without requiring personal email submission or account creation to retrieve the converted file. | 14 / 15 Provides an instant trash-can delete icon right beside 'Download File' and explicitly states 'Your files remain private and will be deleted after leaving our site' (03_download.png). |
| Task quality | 61.5 / 65 Powered by Nitro's enterprise PDF conversion kernel, OpenXML `word/document.xml` inspection confirms 100.0% text retention (4/4 headings, 3/3 special-symbol phrases, 44 editable paragraphs) and a complete 16-cell native Word `<w:tbl>` table (12/12 financial values intact) with Page 2 token preserved (61.5/65) | 51 / 65 OpenXML inspection confirms 100.0% text retention (all 4/4 headings, 12/12 table values, 3/3 body phrases, and Page 2 code preserved) with 3 background graphics preserving visual table borders, though it does not generate a native Word <w:tbl> table object (51.0/65) |
| Deliverable specifications | 18 / 20 Exports a complete 2-page watermark-free native `.docx` file (10.0 KB) without login or email submission, supporting free files up to 25 MB (18.0/20) | 18 / 20 Exports a clean 16.0 KB .docx with no login or watermark, plus free optional Advanced OCR mode (18.0/20) |
| Processing speed | 11.7 / 15 Automatically starts cloud conversion upon upload and presents the Download button in ~4.8s (11.7/15) | |
